Patrolman hero won't stand for retirement

ANAHEIM – One day, late last year, nearly 40 years and five months into his career as an Anaheim policeman, the radio in Sgt. Tom Mathisen's patrol car crackled to life.

As he answered that call, Mathisen had two shifts left to serve. After that, retirement.

If Mathisen were a Hollywood cop, the dispatcher would have sent him to some dramatic crime in progress; gunfire and mayhem would ensue. And, in a hackneyed script, the veteran cop might be paired with a wisecracking rookie who, on several occasions, would put their lives in jeopardy.

This story's better.

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Mathisen holds a unique spot in the history of Orange County law enforcement.

Most cops, as they age and advance, either work a desk or retire early. Not Mathisen. Though he rose in rank, he never left patrol; his career was one of the longest of any Orange County officer who spent virtually every minute of that time on the streets.

He has zero regrets about this. He grew up in west Anaheim in the 1950s and '60s with a simple career goal: to become a cop or firefighter. He played a little baseball, too, but when he injured his ankle during a practice at Cal State Fullerton, any shot he had at the big leagues was gone. The Savanna High School grad would get a badge.

Seemed like the thing to do, he says.

Mathisen explains all this decades after the fact, sitting in an Anaheim Hills Denny's, picking at a Philly cheesesteak and dipping his fries into some ranch dressing.

Retirement, Mathisen says, was supposed to be the end of the world. Literally. He was scheduled to lose full-time status on Dec. 21, 2012, the day that was the last on the Mayan calendar.

Mathisen tells one other thing. During a typical career a cop is lucky to save a person's life once. Mathisen – explaining, not bragging – tells how his career started with such a save.

On April 17, 1974, less than two years after Mathisen joined Anaheim Police Department, making $845 per month, a man in his late 70s collapsed at an Angels game at Angel Stadium.

Mathisen, 24 at the time, just married and working extra duty at the ballpark, rushed to the man's aid.

Before medics arrived, Mathisen calmly started chest compressions. The man, who had suffered a heart attack, survived.

The Police Department awarded Mathisen a lifesaving medallion and a uniform pin placed above his left breast pocket. He also received an Award of Merit, the highest award given for life saving, from the American Red Cross.

"It was good," a taciturn Mathisen says of saving a life. "It was cool."

Flash forward nearly 35 years, to Jan. 18, 2009.

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That day, Mathisen, then 58 and a year removed from when he could retire with full benefits, was assigned to the Anaheim Convention Center.

A man in his early 50s collapsed.

Mathisen calmly started chest compressions, aided by an off-duty firefighter.

Again, for his efforts, the Police Department awarded Mathisen a lifesaving medallion, and a second pin was placed above his left breast pocket.

As he talks about these two incidents, as well as being awarded a Medal of Valor for pulling two people from a burning home on Jan. 21, 2004 (it turned out to be a double murder-suicide), Mathisen shows little emotion.

Things change, though, when he talks about the call he got in his patrol car on Dec. 18, 2012 – with just two days left on the job.

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A 15-month-old boy had fallen into a swimming pool.

Mathisen was the first responder on the scene.

As the boy's father frantically spoke to a 911 dispatcher despite help having already arrived, Mathisen cleared vomit from the fully clothed toddler's mouth and began mouth-to-mouth.

"Save my son!" the father yelled at Mathisen. "Save my son!"

The hard-boiled veteran tried to offer reassurance: "We'll do what we can."

As he gets to this part of the story, Mathisen tears up.

"I can generally talk about these things," he says.

"But, sometimes, things get to me."

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The boy lived. What's more, he recovered completely, something that's not always the case in drownings.

On Wednesday last week, Mathisen got the news from a superior.

For his efforts, the department will award him a third lifesaving medallion. Another pin will be placed above the left breast pocket of his uniform.

Says Mathisen, in his matter-of-fact way: "It's just an expectation of my job."

Mathisen retired as sergeant Dec. 21, but the 63-year-old can't pull himself away from law enforcement.

Two days a week, he toils behind a desk at the East Anaheim Police Department, sitting in front of a computer.

He doesn't have a home computer.

"Tin cans and smoke signals are still good for me," he says.

Mathisen, who has three grown children and a grandson, didn't have the career of a Hollywood cop. He was never shot at, and he never fired his gun at another person.

"A lot of us have had the good fortune of never having to discharge a weapon in the line of duty," he says.

As for saving three lives?

"To me, it was just one of those things ... being in the right place at the right time.

"Looking back at things, I think, 'Gee, did I really do that? Did it really happen?"